Banks and financial discrimination: what can be learnt from the spanish experience?
The paper analyses the phenomenon of financial discrimination that have been identified in many developed countries in the aftermath of the financial crisis. We would consider the process of quality worsening in the provision of banking products and services as part of the increasing problem of fina...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2019 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia |
| Repositorio: | e-spacio. Repositorio Institucional de la UNED |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:e-spacio.uned.es:20.500.14468/11866 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/11866 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | financial inclusion discrimination social inequality vulnerable customer financial crisis financial system restructuration quantile regressions |
| Sumario: | The paper analyses the phenomenon of financial discrimination that have been identified in many developed countries in the aftermath of the financial crisis. We would consider the process of quality worsening in the provision of banking products and services as part of the increasing problem of financial exclusion, which should consider not only the physical access to branches but also the difficulties of use of banking services and products. Our primary concern is focused on the collective of vulnerable customers, so we have carried out an analysis at a micro-scale (urban districts and municipalities) to identify the main determinants of the financial discrimination of territories according to their socioeconomic profile. This study constitutes a first attempt to analyse financial discrimination in the provision of banking products and services at an urban micro-scale. We have considered as good references the cases of Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, large urban territories with high level of social inequality. The methodology that had been applied is quantile regressions, useful technique for analysing the ‘extreme’ nature of the phenomenon of financial discrimination. Our results confirm that the more overloaded branches are settled in districts characterised by a lower socioeconomic profile, indicating a banking industry trend towards ‘low-cost’ retail banking to serve the group of less profitable – more vulnerable customers. Some recommendations are outlined for policymakers in line with the aims and scope of the Payment Accounts Directive of the European Union. |
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